SexViolHist Bib: Representations: Literature: Aeschylus

»Aeschylus (UK: /ˈiːskɪləs/, US: /ˈɛskɪləs/; Ancient Greek: Αἰσχύλος Aischýlos; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is largely based on inferences made from reading his surviving plays. According to Aristotle, he expanded the number of characters in the theatre and allowed conflict among them. Formerly, characters interacted only with the chorus.
Only seven of Aeschylus's estimated 70 to 90 plays have survived in complete form. There is a long-standing debate regarding the authorship of one of them, Prometheus Bound, with some scholars arguing that it may be the work of his son Euphorion. Fragments from other plays have survived in quotations, and more continue to be discovered on Egyptian papyri. These fragments often give further insights into Aeschylus' work. He was likely the first dramatist to present plays as a trilogy.« (Extract from: Wikipedia)

Ἀγαμέμνων (Agamemnon)

I n f o r m a t i o n

»The Oresteia (Ancient Greek: Ὀρέστεια) is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus in the 5th century BC, concerning the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra, the murder of Clytemnestra by Orestes, the trial of Orestes, the end of the curse on the House of Atreus and the pacification of the Furies (also called Erinyes or Eumenides).
The Oresteia trilogy consists of three plays: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides. It shows how the Greek gods interacted with the characters and influenced their decisions pertaining to events and disputes. The only extant example of an ancient Greek theatre trilogy, the Oresteia won first prize at the Dionysia festival in 458 BC. The principal themes of the trilogy include the contrast between revenge and justice, as well as the transition from personal vendetta to organized litigation. Oresteia originally included a satyr play, Proteus (Πρωτεύς), following the tragic trilogy, but all except a single line of Proteus has been lost.
Agamemnon (Ἀγαμέμνων, Agamémnōn) is the first of the three plays within the Oresteia trilogy. It details the homecoming of Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, from the Trojan War. After ten years of warfare, and Troy fallen, all of Greece could lay claim to the victory. Waiting at home for Agamemnon is his wife, Queen Clytemnestra, who has been plotting his murder. She desires his death to avenge the sacrifice of her daughter Iphigenia, to exterminate the only thing hindering her from taking the crown, and to finally be able to publicly embrace her good-time lover Aegisthus.« (Extract from: Wikipedia)

K e y w o r d s

I. Chronological Index: Ancient History: Ancient Greece

II. Geographical Index: European History: Greek History

III. Topical Index: Cases: Mythological Victims: Cassandra; Types: General: Rape

B i b l i o g r a p h y

I. Author Index

[Info] Weiberg, Erika L. »Retracing traumatic memories: Rape narratives in Aeschylus' Agamemnon and Euripides' Ion.« Rape in Antiquity: 20 years on. London 2017.

II. Speaker Index

The Danaids

I n f o r m a t i o n

K e y w o r d s

I. Chronological Index: Ancient History: Ancient Greece

II. Geographical Index: European History: Greek History

III. Topical Index: Types: General: Rape

B i b l i o g r a p h y

I. Author Index

[Info] Zeitlin, Froma. »Configurations of Rape in Greek Myth.« Rape: An Historical and Social Enquiry. Edited by Susan Tomaselli et al. Oxford 1986: 122-151.

II. Speaker Index

Ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ Θήβας (Seven Against Thebes)

I n f o r m a t i o n

»Seven Against Thebes (Ancient Greek: Ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ Θήβας, Hepta epi Thēbas; Latin: Septem contra Thebas) is the third play in an Oedipus-themed trilogy produced by Aeschylus in 467 BC. The trilogy is sometimes referred to as the Oedipodea. It concerns the battle between an Argive army, led by seven champions including Polynices who were called the Seven against Thebes, and the army of Thebes led by Eteocles and his supporters. The trilogy won the first prize at the Athens City Dionysia. The trilogy's first two plays, Laius and Oedipus, as well as the satyr play Sphinx, are no longer extant.« (Extract from: Wikipedia)

K e y w o r d s

I. Chronological Index: Ancient History: Ancient Greece

II. Geographical Index: European History: Greek History

III. Topical Index: Types: General: Rape

B i b l i o g r a p h y

I. Author Index

[Info] Byrne, Lucy. »Fear in the Seven Against Thebes.« Rape in Antiquity: Sexual Violence in the Greek and Roman Worlds. Edited by Susan Deacy et al. London 1997: 143-162.

II. Speaker Index

Ἱκέτιδες (The Suppliants)

I n f o r m a t i o n

»The Suppliants (Ancient Greek: Ἱκέτιδες, Hiketides; Latin: Supplices), also called The Suppliant Maidens, The Suppliant Women, or Supplices is a play by Aeschylus. It was probably first performed "only a few years previous to the Oresteia, which was brought out 458 BC." It seems to be the first play in a tetralogy, sometimes referred to as the Danaid Tetralogy, which probably included the lost plays The Egyptians (also called Aigyptioi), and The Daughters of Danaus (also called The Danaïdes or The Danaids), and the satyr play Amymone. It was long thought to be the earliest surviving play by Aeschylus due to the relatively anachronistic function of the chorus as the protagonist of the drama. However, evidence discovered in the mid-twentieth century shows it was one of Aeschylus' last plays, definitely written after The Persians and possibly after .« (Extract from: Wikipedia)

K e y w o r d s

I. Chronological Index: Ancient History: Ancient Greece

II. Geographical Index: European History: Greek History

III. Topical Index: Types: General: Rape

B i b l i o g r a p h y

I. Author Index

[Info] Rabinowitz, Nancy S. »Greek Tragedy: A Rape Culture?« EuGEStA No. 1 (2011): 1-21.

[Info] Rabinowitz, Nancy S. »Marriage or Rape? Aeschylus' Suppliants and Charles Mee's Big Love.« The Classical Association Annual Conference. Exeter 2012.

[Info] Rabinowitz, Nancy S. »Rape and race: Intersectional perspectives on Aeschylus’ Suppliants, with a coda on Charles Mee’s Big Love.« The Routledge handbook of classics, colonialism, and postcolonial theory Edited by Katherine Blouin et al. London 2025: 168-181.

II. Speaker Index